Path toward Family Reunification: Structural

Transcript:Path toward Family Reunification: Structural:
Path toward Family Reunification: Structural Constraints on Filipina Live-In Caregivers in Montreal Kazue Takamura Postdoctoral Fellow School of Social Work McGill University Contents of the presentation Objectives of the study and literature review Problems with the literature The argument: a long-term, structural perspective Analytical framework: types of constraints Why mothers’ migration matters Background Female labor migration from the Philippines Live-In Caregiver Program Structural Constraints on the path toward family reunification and its long term impact on social mobility Conclusion Aim of the study To analyze the structural constraints on the migration trajectory of female migrants and families in a long-term perspective The path toward family reunification of Filipina live-in caregivers Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program: a unique and crucial pathway to family reunification because of the opportunity to gain residency Problem with the literature on female labor migration Literature is divided into Separation and Settlement Experience of separation (during the labor migration) Impact of female migration on families: emotional ties, conjugal relations, left-behind children, transnational mothering (Ho 1999; Schmalzbauer 2004; Asis et al. 2004; Scalabrini Migration Center 2004; Parrenas 2005; Yeoh and Lam2007; Dreby 2007, 2010) Experience of settlement (after reunification) Psychological implication of family separation among immigrant youth (Smith et al. 2004; Rousseau et al. 2009; Suarez-Orozco et al. 2002, 2011) Intergenerational struggles after the reunification, educational adaptation of newly-arrived children (Cohen 2000; Allen 2004; Pratt 2004, 2009; Caro 2008; Foner 2009; Menjivar and Abrego 2009; Pineda 2010; Corak 2011) Economic Integration, labor participation (Kelly 2006, 2010; Castoguay 2009; Goldring and Landolt 2012) A long-term, structural perspective Problem: discontinuity between separation and reunification literature My argument : it is necessary to have a long-term, structural perspective on female labor migration and families Focus of my study = To understand how initial constraints on female labor migration affect the family reunification process and social mobility of immigrant families Structural Constraints on female labor migration Types of constraints on the path toward family reunification Political constraints - Immigration process - Precarious legal status Economic constraints - Financial burden (family reunification expense, financial pressure from home) Social constraints - Family challenges (conjugal relations, inadmissible children) - Resource problem (limited access to information and services) Why mothers’ migration matters? -Gender: The impact of female migration on family significantly differs from that of male migration. Especially significant is the negative consequence of mothers’ migration on children. -Transnational mothering: persistent expectation of mothering by left-behind families